The evolving, stabilising and expanding Indian art market

These 'newer' names - new to the top of the market pyramid, but definitely established names that continue to be widely respected and cherished long after their passing - have for some time been garnering a lot of interest from the buyers. Some of these names that have done exceedingly well in these sales are NS Bendre, Jagadish Swaminathan and Ganesh Pyne. Jehangir Sabavala, however, is not an exception as he had become a top grosser even during his lifetime. It's heartening to see KCS Paniker and Gulam Mohammed Sheikh names in these lists as these are the masters who have long deserved to be here

By the time we read this art analysis, Christie's would have just wrapped up its South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art auction in New York and discussions would have launched laying the sale threadbare. But before we get to that seminal sale, we must pause and analyse the two very important sales of Indian art that have concluded in the past few days, which, along with the Christie's sale, and the Sotheby's sale of Indian art on 25 October, will set the pace for the market in the forthcoming months.

The Fine Art Sale by Pundole's was held in Mumbai on 13 September while Saffronart's Evening Sale was held in New Delhi on 17 September. At both the auctions, the works expected to do well before the sales came good on the expectations, either matching the highest pre-auction estimates or exceeding them by a wide margin in some cases.

In terms of the results, following were the top-selling works at the Saffronart auction:

1. FN Souza's 'Broken Head', 1957, fetched Rs 12 crore (estimate: Rs 8 crore – Rs 12 crore)

2. NS Bendre's 'Untitled', 1983, went for Rs 7.5 crore (estimate: Rs 5 crore – Rs 7 crore)

3. Jehangir Sabavala's 'Of Cloud and Air II', fetched Rs 7.2 crore (estimate: Rs 3.5 crore – Rs 4.5 crore)

4. Akbar Padamsee's 'Metascape', 1975, fetched Rs 6.84 crore (estimate: Rs 2.75 crore – Rs 3.75 crore)

5. SH Raza's 'Jaipur', 1976, went for Rs 6.6 crore (estimate: Rs 6 crore – Rs 8 crore)

6. MV Dhurandhar's 'Untitled', 1934, went for Rs 4.8 crore (estimate: Rs 3 crore – Rs 5 crore)

7. MF Husain's 'Airavat' went for Rs 4.5 crore (estimate: Rs 3.5 crore – Rs 4.5 crore)

There were quite a few canvases that fetched prices upwards of Rs 1 crore, featuring signatures by artists such as Jagdish Swaminathan (Rs 3.60 crore), S. H. Raza (Rs 3.48 crore), Prabhakar Barwe (Rs 3.36 crore), N. S. Bendre (Rs 2.16 crore) B. Prabha, M. F. Husain, Manjit Bawa, Jogen Chowdhury and Rameshwar Broota (each at Rs 1 crore+).

On the other hand, the top selling works at the Pundole's auction were as follows:

1. Jehangir Sabavala's 'And Wilt Thou Leave Me Thus', 1961, fetched Rs 4.2 crore (estimate: Rs 1 crore – Rs 2 crore)

2. Ganesh Pyne's 'Before The Pillar',1972, fetched Rs 3 crore (estimate: Rs 1 crore – Rs 2 crore)

3. NS Bendre's 'Untitled', 1968, went for Rs 1.6 crore (estimate: Rs 60 lakh – Rs 80 lakh)

4. KCS Paniker's 'Words and Symbols Series', 1968, fetched Rs 85 lakh (estimate: Rs 18 lakh – Rs 22 lakh)

5. Nicholas Roerich's 'Himalayas', 1938, sold for Rs 75 lakh (estimate: Rs 40 lakh – Rs 60 lakh)

6. Gulam Mohammed Sheikh's 'Untitled', early 1960s, fetched Rs 70 lakh (estimate: Rs 10 lakh – Rs 15 lakh)

7. Adi Davierwala's 'Head: Picasso', 1953, went for Rs 65 lakh (estimate: Rs 20 lakh – Rs 30 lakh)

The two lists make one thing very clear - that the Progressives are matching up their higher estimates, which remain more than those estimated for any other artists / group of artists, but it's the newer names that are now exceeding their higher estimates by a wide margin. For instance, if one looks at the Saffronart results, it is evident that the Progressives, or the reigning masters of modern Indian art, such as Souza, Husain and Raza, were not just the top lots before the auction but also managed to achieve those price points. It's the other, newer names, who managed to exceed their estimates, both at Saffronart and Pundole's auctions.

These 'newer' names - new to the top of the market pyramid but definitely established names that continue to be widely respected and cherished long after their passing - have for some time been garnering a lot of interest from the buyers. Some of these names that have done exceedingly well in these sales are NS Bendre, Jagadish Swaminathan and Ganesh Pyne. Jehangir Sabavala, however, is not an exception as he had become a top grosser even during his lifetime. It's heartening to see KCS Paniker and Gulam Mohammed Sheikh names in these lists as these are the masters who have long deserved to be here.

Spotlight on NS Bendre

This column had spoken at length about NS Bendre's arrival under the arc of the market spotlight on 3 February earlier this year, because the prices achieved by his works at auctions this year - both at the seminal Spring auctions and the current ones - have established him as 'the' artist to watch out for this year.

The works of the Indore-born artist (1910-1992) had a stupendous showing at the 2021 auctions as well. In July 2021, at Saffronart's Summer Live auction, his 'Untitled' oil on canvas from 1985 had fetched Rs 1.67 crore; at Christie's New York auction in September 2021, his 'Untitled (Three Women)' had fetched Rs 1.6 crore; at Pundole's auction in Mumbai in November 2021, his work 'Jaisalmer Fort' had sold for Rs 5 crore, whereas three other works at the same auction had been sold for more than a crore each: 'Kashmir Landscape' for Rs 3.8 crore, 'A Bundi House' for Rs 3.5 crore, and 'Tarnetar Fair' for Rs 3.2 crore. In December 2021, at Astaguru's Modern Indian Art auction, an 'Untitled' oil by Bendre had sold for the highest price ever achieved by any of his works, selling for Rs 6 crore, riding on an estimate of Rs 1.5 – Rs 2 crore.

It would be interesting to keep a tab on this artist's work as the market clearly is in love with the mellifluous simplicity of his work - his works evolved with different decades of his career but irrespective of the theme he painted on, his canvases bore a distinct Bendre stamp of lyricism. As a teacher and head of the department at MS University, Baroda, Bendre also groomed generations of Indian artists, who would grow to carve a niche for themselves in the world of Indian art in future. Bendre painted across genres and themes, and he is remembered for imbuing his art with a certain mood, which, perhaps, is the latest fancy of the art market.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based journalist, editor and arts consultant. She blogs at www.archanakhareghose.com)